The Inquisitive Guest had last interviewed Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn at the Pierre hotel during a dinner for the New York premiere of HBO’s 2009 Grey Gardens adaptation, starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. They had described the sad state of the property when they purchased it. “After Jackie restored it, [the Edies] let it go back to where it was before,” said Quinn at that time.

“Jackie didn’t really restore it,” clarified Bradlee.

“She put on a new roof, and they cleaned [the house] out,” Quinn explained. “And I think they added some plumbing, but then they let it go again. So when we bought it, the floors were rotted, but the piano was still there. You’d go into the living room, touch the wall, and it would move out 12 inches, as if it were on a hinge from the second floor.”

Quinn then noted that a crucial part of the restoration was the rehabilitation of the gardens. “We found the perfect gardener who understood what we wanted, which is for them to be sort of mysterious and slightly overgrown.”

Quinn (center) is seen here with Jeannie Lars (left) and Dame Jillian Sackler.

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Bradlee, seen here with art collector Ann Nitze, echoed his wife’s sentiments from years earlier, “The gardens are unbelievable.”

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In a sunny living room decorated with the home’s original wicker furniture, Quinn explained, “I was in such a state of excitement when I went up to the attic and found the furniture. Almost all of it was original to the house. It had to be restored, but I was just shaking.”

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Author Duane Hampton, wife of the late interior designer Mark Hampton, mentioned a trip she and her husband took to a legendary estate outside Paris. “Just after [Charles] de Beistegui died, we had a special tour at Château de Groussay that influenced Mark hugely. [Art historian] Rosamond Bernier took us to visit with David Hicks. I have a photo of the library taken by Cecil Beaton in my hall.”

Hampton (center) is seen here with Rick Friedberg (left) and Greg Brown.

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Yoga instructor Hilaria Baldwin mentioned that she had never visited Grey Gardens before that afternoon. “My husband had driven me by here quite a few times,” she said, “but I had never been inside before.” She also revealed a passion for Spanish architecture. “I grew up in Spain, where we have the Alhambra Palace and all of the amazing Gaudí architecture.”

Alec and Hilaria Baldwin.

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Author Ava Roosevelt, granddaughter-in-law of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, brought up a possible restoration project in the gardens at her family home in Connecticut. “The house I live in there has belonged to the Roosevelt family for almost 70 years,” she said. “We survived the last two storms, including Hurricane Sandy. The only thing I regret, so very deeply, is the fact that we don’t have any more gardens. Being here at Grey Gardens is almost like a revelation. I plan to restore, but imagine how many years it took to grow this magnificent garden.”

Roosevelt (right) is seen here with Joan Tobin (left) and Cornelia Bregman.

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Dame Jillian Sackler, wife of the late Arthur M. Sackler, founder of the eponymous Asian ­art gallery in D.C., mentioned Yuan Ming Yuan, the former summer palace of the Emperor of China. “It is very near the Sackler museum in Beijing, and it is a ruin,” she explained. “The Chinese are wondering whether to rebuild it. My husband actually had one of the thrones from the summer palace. He gave it back to China in the 1980s.”

Sackler (right) is seen here with Debra Diamond.

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Actor and rumored MSNBC host Alec Baldwin wasn't quite as enthusiastic about the notion of renovating. “The house I live in out here was originally built in 1735,” Baldwin said. “But I’m going to say something that might offend your readers: I’m a firm believer that architectural and historical restorations should only be done by incredibly wealthy people who don’t care about money, or by governments. I preserved an old house that probably should have been torn down. It would be a great thing for someone else to have done. It’s a very inefficient house, a disaster energy-wise. We just put in solar panels.”

Preservationists needn’t worry about Baldwin, though. “No, I love old houses,” he continued. “But I’d love to simply donate money to a fund and have someone else restore old houses. And I would live in an energy-efficient home.”